Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 6, 1 June 2000 — TRUSTEE MESSAGES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]
TRUSTEE MESSAGES
Afarewellandachallenge
T WAS with great sadness that I bid a fond aloha to my colleague Trustee Moses Kapalekilahao Keale Sr., following his passing last month. He was a humble and gentle man whose achievements touched the hearts of many Hawaiians during his nearly two decades of distinguished and unbroken service as a trustee. Moke, as we affectionately called him, was the heartbeat and soul of OHA, providing guidance, kupuna wisdom, and leadership for our organization. He beheved strongly in being a good role model for those he served, and leading by example was the rule, not the exception for him. Thanks to the hard work and foresight of Tmstee Keale, important OHA programs such as the 'Aha 'Opio, 'Aha Kupuna, the Native Hawaiian Preservation Oouneil and the Native Hawaiian Education Foundation were established. Trustee Keale was also aware of the needs of beneficiaries aspiring to become entrepreneurs and helped to estabhsh the Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund. As a result of these selfless acts, Tmstee Keale was named Minority Business Advocate of the Year by the Small Business Association and a Living Treasure of Hawai'i by the Honpa Hongwanji Association. This is
the legacy that Trustee Keale left behind for all of us, because his heart was filled with so mueh love and aloha for his people. I commend Moke for his steadfast leadership and enduring commitment to Hawaiians, and for his many achievements and contributions that he has made on behalf of Hawaiians. I am honored to have worked with such an extraordinary full-blood-ed Hawaiian, so dedicated to his people. Trustee Keale was a 1rue pioneer
who helped to build strong programs during the first 20 years of OHA's existence. Moke will certainly be missed, not just by the trustees who served with him, but by the staff and the community that he served. On the heels of Moke's passing we find ourselves six months into the new millennium faced with great challenges that must be tumed into opportunities for our people to move collectively, productively and with unity. Working together, we ean
get closer to estabhshing a nation so that no one ean challenge or make threats to our entitlements. Recently, U.S. Senator Akaka created a federal Task Force that seeks to estabhsh a relationship between Hawai'i's indigenous peoples and the United States. The Task Force consists of five working groups, including representatives from the Native Hawaiian community, state govemment, the White House and the rest of the federal government, congression-
al committees and caucuses, the Native American community and constitutional scholars. The goal of these groups is to introduce federal legislation that wih address and recognize Hawahans as the indigenous peoples of our land and that will define a pohtical stams relationship between Hawaiians and the United States. The final product of the working groups' eollaborative and cohective efforts would be recommendations to be considered in
drafting this legislation. The timetable for this undertaking is ambitious. We wih _ seek to have a draft completed by this month so that it ean be properly introduced in Congress before its adjournment in October. A legislative measure such as this would establish a process for the Native Hawaiian community to engage in serious discussions toward self-determination. At the risk of sounding redundant, I emphasize that we must work collectively to achieve nationhood for our people. We must not be ashamed to express our diverse and divergent opinions, as we are a new and emerging nation. Our new nation must experience these "growing pains" in order to be healthy, robust and successful. It is important that we all allow eaeh other the freedom to respectfiilly express our opinions and thoughts, so that we ean finally eome to some sort of compromise whieh will allow us to move forward. Accepting eaeh other's differences of opinion and respecting the mana'o of others is the key to coming together in unity so that our naūon will thrive. Trustee Akana is online at www.rowenaakana.homestead.com ■
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